High-efficiency, condensing gas furnaces are typically vented through an exterior wall of a building using two pipes. One of the pipes is provided for air intake to support combustion in the furnace, and the other for exhaust gas discharge of the combustion gas products. Typically the exhaust gas exits perpendicular to the plane of the building wall, either through a bare pipe, or through an aesthetic vent terminal installed over the pipes. To meet local codes, however, it is sometimes necessary to redirect the exhaust at a non-perpendicular angle with respect to the plane of the building wall. This may be required by some jurisdictions to avoid exhaust gas from one building being directed to the intake pipe of an adjacent building.
One way presently used to address this non-perpendicular venting requirement is to provide an elbow at the terminus of the exhaust pipe. The elbow projects outward from the wall, bending to provide the required angle for the exhaust. This provides one solution for the challenge, and serves a secondary function of separating the exhaust gas from the intake pipe by directing the exhaust gas away from the intake pipe. However, a bare elbow jutting out from the sidewall of the building is often perceived as providing an unfinished appearance, not in keeping with the aesthetics of most buildings.
What is needed, then, is an apparatus and method for covering an intake and exhaust of an HVAC system, which provides a finished aesthetic and directs the exhaust gas at a non-perpendicular angle.